Once Upon a Dream

(( Pirates of the Caribbean Three - At Worlds End. The part where they retrieve Jack from Davy Jones' locker. I can't wait for the next movie! ))

((Ohhh. Okay. I thought it was a video game or something. xDD I think I've watched the first movie, but not the second or third...I should probably do that.))

You could call it a portal if you want. I personally call it the hole in the center of the earth. Nick relayed to Percy.
Skolifr and Nick burst from out of the water like a shark with a huge splash, and Skolifr floated on the surface waiting for Ana.

Ana splashed up next to Skolifr and Nick and looked around. I don't see anything, the dragon said.

If you did, I'd commend you for your grand eyesight! Skolifr commented. I was just waiting for you to catch up with me before I took to the sky again. Land isn't for another few miles. She stretched her wings and flapped water off her scales before she flew back into the air.
They'd fly for another ten minutes or so before they finally had land within their sight: a wide expanse of beach followed by a rocky flatland, and further ahead... a city.

In water, there was nothing to push yourself up into the air from. Ana had to pump her wings vigorously to get airborn. But she did manage it in the end, and the two soared after the other dragon.

Shelley slowly bent over, resting her hands on the cobblestones, then reaching out and drawing her head nearer to her angles. Her body formed an almost-perfect O. She unbent then contorted herself again, dropping down into a splits position and arching her back so her fiery hair brushed the back of her leg.

Here they were, the Chromatic Concerto of Traveling Street Performers. The name didn't make any sense, but they didn't care. Jugglers, contortionists, acrobats, they had it all. Except for a tightrope walker. Because, quite frankly, their tightrope walker decided to fall off his tightrope and break his leg.

She still missed him. He'd been her best friend, after all.

Shelley inwardly sighed and straightened up, standing in order to collect the money being offered to her. No use living in the past. She had her troupe to take care of, and money to earn.

Percy closed his eyes and let the wind buffet him, tugging at his hair and yelling in his ears, dogs begging for attention. He tugged off one fingerless glove and held up his hand. His Dragon's Mark, reminiscent of an eye, glinted white in the bright sunlight, and the wind swirled around his fingers, licking at his hand. A ghostly silver-white dragon began forming in thin air.

Ana slowed, sensing that her Rider was busy talking to the wind elementals. The wind dragon danced around Percy, leaping around and blowing his hair into his blue and black eye. Eventually it slowed, curling around the boy's neck and whispering images into the boy's ear. Snapshots of the city flashed before his mind's eye.

One of the last sights was of a girl, dressed in black and orange with fiery red hair. Percy grinned. They're here, he told Ana.

The dragons thumped to the ground in a field of stone. The hollow echo of shifting rock was loud, but not loud enough to be heard in the city. Percy quickly slid off Ana's neck, wincing slightly as his landing jarred his leg, then reached up and touched the winged serpent's nose. I'll be back soon, he said. Wait here?
A throbbing hum answered him. Of course.
Percy smiled briefly and turned to Nick. He was too impatient to wait. "I'm going to go ahead," he said. "There's someone I know in this city, I can meet up with her and find you later?" Without further explanation, he trotted off towards the city.

The sun was high in the sky, blazing down on the city, and Shelley was on her lunch break. She wandered through the crowded marketplace, browsing through the baubles and trinkets and gazing sadly down on the meager pile of coins she had earned that morning.
Finally, she bought a meat pasty-her favorite-and slipped into an alley to eat.
---
The wind spirits darted in and out of the mob, silently laughing and bringing different images to show Percy. You are such children, he said to them, amused. Could you find that fire-headed girl you saw earlier?
In response, the spirits disappeared, then came back and latched themselves to Percy's hair and arms, dragging him along. After some jostling and muttered "sorry"s, they reached a mostly-empty alleyway.
Shelley looked up as his shadow fell across her legs, then leaped up and tackled him in a hug. "Percy! You're here! You're back!"

Tarik leans forward placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands, grinning. “Mystery man doesn’t have such a bad ring. I kind of like it but since I know your names I might as well give you mine. It’s Tarik. Tarik Aksuez.” He introduces as he glances from one to the other and back again.

“I can’t tell you everything you’ll be getting into but I’ll tell you everything I know as of yet. Do you all know of the legend behind the treasures of Hadarac Desert?” He asks but doesn’t wait for an answer. “Well, a few years back I had been hired by the Sultan of the Otto Empire to retrieve something for him because his youngest son had grown ill. He had hired a group of us. I did not know any of them men working with me except for one.” At this part he grows silent for a few moments before snapping back to reality and continuing on with the story.

“Anyway, it didn’t take us long to trek through the desert. Actually, it had been quite an easy journey until we reached the pass between two mountains located in the center of the dessert. This is where the treasure was located it but the Sultan forgot to warn us about the four pillars of Gin.”

He paused for a moment to take a bite from his dessert. “The first pillar is the pillar of trust which was the pillar that brought my companies demise unfortunately...” And also where he lost someone very dear to him but that was another motivation for him wanting to go back. “The other three pillars in order are belief, courage and love. However, I can’t tell you what we’ll be facing when we reach those pillars but it won’t be easy.” He knew he hadn’t mentioned everything but he was sure if they really wanted to know they would ask. This was just the short and nice version of the story and he was hoping to gain their cooperation with at least this much.

“So, what do you say?”

"........I say we slit his throat right now. If you couldn't manage why the heck do you think we could? It's got to be a trap of some sort. We'll dump him in the alley, and head back to our place."

Sam glanced at Darkest and raised her glass to her mouth. Taking a quick drink, she turned her attention back to Tarik. "What are these pillars exactly? And what happened at the pillar of Trust? It's not in my nature to run off on an adventure unawares. Darkest's nature perhaps, but not mine." She winked at Darkest and smiled.

"I do not agree with my friend that we should kill you but really, treasure? What sort of man would want to share in the spoils of his daring adventure, especially with strangers he just met?" The elf leaned back in her chair and propped her feet comfortably on a nearby barstool. "You are leaving out many crucial details my friend. And I guarentee you that if you tried to lead us into a trap or betray us..." She waved a hand towards Tarik's snack. "That dessert there would be the last thing you ever ate,"

Sam lifted her mug once more and raised it towards Tarik. She smiled, but her eyes shone brightly showing her interest in the whole affair. "Cheers,"

The two of them sat down in the alley. Shelley broke off some of her meal for her friend, and he accepted it gratefully.

"I'm just visiting, really," Percy replied. "Dunno how long we'll be staying. How's the rest of them?"

"Getting along. We've had to recruit a new tightrope walker, but she's not nearly as good as you." The contortionist girl nudged him in the ribs, apologizing at his wince. "Still not over that?"

"Ehhhh. Didn't heal right. I'll live."

Shelley nodded, settling back to eat her pasty, when a new question piqued her curiosity. "You said 'we'. Who else is with you?"

Percy shrugged. "Another Rider. His name is Nick. I kind of left him behind when I saw you while I was wind-scrying." He gave a breathy laugh.

"Could I meet him?" Shelley gave him a doe-eyed look.

"I guess. Come on, it's a ways walk..."

"Treasure is always worth the risk." Darkest flashed a toothy grin.
"But I don't often run off unprepared...we'll call the others, then decide what to about this treasure, and this man."
It was easy enough to see what Tarik wanted. He and Sam would die, springing whatever traps were left, and Tarik would claim the prize. Darkest's eyes flashed. That could work both ways...

'Your scheming again.' The message was sent with a disappointed feeling. Darkest worked hard not to shrug. He was who he was, and if the treasure was guarded that heavily...there was sure to be a magical trinket for him to get his hands on. He reached for the drink, still grinning, no longer minding all the hushed conversation around him, or the closeness of the other inhabitants. Bring it on, with a little luck, anything was possible.

Sam blinked, momentarily stunned. Darkest? Agreeing to something? She extended her conscious towards his and pressed lightly on the barriers of his mind.

The sudden change of heart? Is there something you know that I don't? The elf gazed into his eyes, trying to get a read on him.

He winked.

'I'm not THAT unreasonable, besides, together we can shove this man headfirst into whatever death pit he planned to leave us in, and take the treasure for ourselves.

Darkest took a swig of his drink.

I don't trust him, I don't like him, he left his people to die, or led them to slaughter I suspect, and is now here trying to get more lambs to join the slaughter. Thieves are supposed to look after their own.

"Before we agree to anything more, tell us more of yourself, how does someone with your obvious education come to be wearing a blade and hunting treasure? And why, even after I suggested slitting your throat, are you still here? I mean no disrespect, but that usually guarantees our privacy."

Sam snickered. No change of heart. Just the same old scheming Darkest. The elf took a swig of her drink while she thought. She did not want to leave this man to die if it came to that. It was not a part of her nature.

But then again, some treasure could provide the materials or the means for a new set of armor for G'reth... The dragon just kept growing...

'Perhaps I should go find the others, before we continue with Tarik's history?' Darkest asked Sam.

'And while I'm gone, see if you can't wrangle an oath in the ancient tongue from him, something along the lines of not harming or leading us into harm. You're charming, I know you can do it.' Darkest beamed and stood up, the wooden chair scraping across the tavern floor.

"Give my answer to the lady, I just saw an old acquaintance pass by, and it'd be good to hear from him before he takes off with what he owes me." Darkest hurried out the tavern door, giving Sam a look that said 'Call if you need me.' Before stepping through the door and into the bright sunlight. He blinked, and began heading towards the edge of town.

'Was it wise to just leave her there?'

"She's a big girl, she can take care of herself. Besides, what human is match for an elf?"

'True. But we do not know what or who this stranger is.'

Darkest shrugged. "Why does it matter if we know him or not? If he was going to make a play, he would. Besides, we can make better time through the shadow paths than Graendr could in air."

'Do we have too?' The sending was filled with loathing.

"I know...I hate it too. I'd rather walk or fly, to be honest, but we dare not leave Sam alone in there for long."

"Oy, you sunbaked?" Darkest turned to regard a small crowd staring at him, and he felt his face flush. He hadn't realized he'd been talking aloud.

"I'm fine, friends, and I suspect it's you that need your head checked. He winked, and waved his hand.

"Brisingr." The crowd jumped as flame sprung up and obscured the strange man, when the flame vanished, in it's place was a small pile of copper coins, topped with a silver. Darkest chuckled at the gaping jaws and religious signs they directed at the pile, and then turned and began running down the shadowed paths, careful to avoid the shadows and souls of the people without, hunting for Heirs shadow. The wind was terrible, and overbearing, but luckily, the cold did not touch him. Most of the realm was cast in dim grey, and frosted over. No sun touched this land, and everything was a varying degree of darkness, or pure white. The scene before Darkest blurred as he willed the dark magic in his veins to life, and then the scene shifted, washed out and was replaced by another, one of the grounds before the Castle. Heir had to be somewhere nearby... Something growled in a black spot off to Darkest's left, and he hurried off, trying to find his prey before he himself was caught.

Sam opened her mouth in protest but then he was gone. He'd be back soon. It wasn't like Darkest to miss any action or too much of Tarik's history. He'd find his weakness or any openings to exploit to his advantage.

The elf leaned back comfortably in her chair, her eyes scanning the room. She handed three silver pieces to a passing barmaid. The barmaid promptly brought back three mugs of ale. Sam pushed one towards Blaze and one towards Tarik.

"Now... where were we? Ah. Your history. Do begin." Sam smiled coyly at Tarik and took a small sip of her ale.

OOC/ *Waits for Tarik and Heir.* Iknowthey'rerealIknowthey'rerealIknowthey'rerealIknowthey'rereal *Snaps spoon*

And the unnoticed Blaze was still there.
Just sitting.

ooc/ YOU CAME BACK! -TACKLEHUG!- I thought we'd lost you forever!

Darkest frowned as he shifted through the shadows, chill wind whipping at his hair. He looked around at the skewed and maddening vision of the castle around him, then strode through an archway, and ended up near the lake.

'Is it time to admit that you're lost yet pet?' Graendl sent with a fair dose of humor.\

"I am NOT lost, the castle is just enchanted, for protection. Besides, there are so many wards here they practically tear this place apart! You have no idea how hard it is to single out any one person."

'Oh sure, blame the magic youngling, this couldn't have anything to do with your abrupt departure, or, Karma, perhaps?'

Darkest ground his teeth together and muttering darkly, dashed forward.

"I'm NOT lost, I can prove it, the shadow is right here!" He dove forward into an inky black shadow, the wind died, his stomach lurched, the world shifted aaaand he had just enough time to fall straight on his face, in front of Blaze. Tears streamed down his face, and blood gushed from his nose as he began cursing vehemently, Graendls laughter definitely not helping.

"Hey Blaze." he half groaned, as he began picking himself up off the ground.

"Just another random adventure gone awry." He smiled at her.

"That book looks very interesting. Might you have reached a spot where I can kidnap you for an exciting adventure? And if not for me, I may have left left our leader in a tavern with a homicidal treasure hunter who is sure to have some base knowledge of magic and or magical items that cause bodily harm...Sam could be in trouble."

He opened his eyes wide, almost pleadingly, and pouted.

'Your an idiot'

'At least I'm an idiot who does NOT smell good to vampires. We should remember that for later.'

'Are you appealing to anyone?'

'You like me.'

'I have to.'

Darkest sighed.

"Please? It'll be like old times."